The Stranger's crush on Heck is odd. He's a corporate-lackey Dem. He'll most likely win the 3rd, and I predict nine months from now the Stranger will be gnashing their teeth at Heck's "inexplicable" vote of support for some GOP/corporate chicanery.
A circulation of 6,800 in a county with a population of 21,000 is pretty good. That's a much larger percentage of the local population reading that newspaper than most others.